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Skyboy Games
@skyboygames.com
1.4K followers 1.5K following 430 posts
Making New Games for Old Game Systems:
https://skyboygames.com/static/Skyboy_Landing.html

Owned and operated by Robbie (she/they), Assoc. Prof. of Game Design at GMU: @nobunagaota.bsky.social

#gamedev #nesdev
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skyboygames.com
How it started. How it's going.

On left, first draft sketch of world map for Even Goblins Fall In Love.
On right, pixel art layout for current world map for Even Goblins Fall In Love, an 8-bit NES JRPG.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
First draft sketch of world map for Even Goblins Fall In Love Pixel art layout for current world map for Even Goblins Fall In Love, an 8-bit NES JRPG
November 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
skyboygames.com
"We are an 'AI First' company.

What was that?
'What about Player-First'?

Players? Are you kidding me?
We hate those guys!"
Koraku headline stating: "Subnautica 2 Publisher Encourages Voluntary Layoffs A It Goes 'AI First'"
November 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
skyboygames.com
The v0.5 demo of Even Goblins Fall In Love had a bug that would result in MISSINGNO-style bugged-out enemies.

The kit-bashed sprites worked so well that I'm going to clean them up and make them into real enemies.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
Combat encounter in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an 8-bit JRPG. A bug led to a sprite resembling Haniwa with hears floating around it with the name "Lali-ho!". Combat encounter in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an 8-bit JRPG. A bug led to a sprite resembling a green dumpster with googly eyes.
November 12, 2025 at 9:21 PM
skyboygames.com
I showed Even Goblins Fall In Love, my 8-bit NES JRPG, at Hashtag Gaming Arena last Sunday.
It was a good time!

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
Person playing Even Goblins Fall In Love on a CRT at Hashtag Gaming Arena in Herndon, VA. Player is in a dungeon. Person playing Even Goblins Fall In Love on a CRT at Hashtag Gaming Arena in Herndon, VA. Player is fighting an enemy called 'Lippy'.
November 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
skyboygames.com
One of the players at District Arcade last Saturday managed to find a cool bug.

I may have to turn this into an official enemy in the game.

Thanks to @igdadc.bsky.social for running the event!!

#nesdev #gamedev #indienes
Bugged out creature in Even Goblins Fall In Love mistakenly named "Lali-ho!"
October 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM
skyboygames.com
Having a password system could be great for multi-day conventions.

Players could back to the demo and continue where they left off.

I could lean into it by prepping some branded mini-notes and pens.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
October 24, 2025 at 5:40 PM
skyboygames.com
Testing hardware for IGDA District Arcade this Saturday:
www.igdadc.org/districtarca...
Two CRTs playing Even Goblins Fall In Love, an indie NES JRPG.
October 23, 2025 at 2:40 PM
skyboygames.com
This is my current phone lockscreen.

How about yours?
Goblin head with glowing eyes wearing a fireman's hat on top of a CRT playing Fire And Rescue, a homebrew NES game.
October 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
skyboygames.com
The final town in Even Goblins Fall In Love is a town full of goblins.
Not coincidentally, this town has the most NPCs of any town in the game.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
October 18, 2025 at 4:09 AM
skyboygames.com
This is the image that was supposed to go with the above post. Not sure why it turned into a void of black pixels.

Just worked around by turning it into a single-frame animated gif.
October 11, 2025 at 7:54 PM
skyboygames.com
I added the princess you'll meet at the end of the game to the castle you visit at the beginning of the game.
Dramatists refer to this as Chekov's Princess.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
Castle in an 8-bit Dragon Quest-style RPG. Seven characters are visible: 3 guards, 2 towns people, the goblin protagonist, and a princess.
October 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
skyboygames.com
As we head into Spooky Season, it seems like a good time to showcase one of the enemies in the Haunted Tomb dungeon in Even Goblins Fall In Love, my 8-bit NES JRPG:
The Scream.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
8-bit RPG Dragon Quest-style battle against an Edvard Munch-inspired enemy called Scream
October 4, 2025 at 10:27 PM
skyboygames.com
You use Zero Page variables to optimize performance.
I use Zero Page variables to reduce code size.

We ARE NOT the same.

...

Although, if you understand what I'm saying, we probably ARE the same. It's just that our projects have different priorities.

#nesdev
Gus, in a dapper suit and tie, from Breaking Bad.
September 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
skyboygames.com
Just submitted Even Goblins Fall In Love for consideration to be part of the MAGFest Indie Videogames Showcase.
Enjoy the trailer video I cut for the submissions and wish me luck!

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
August 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
skyboygames.com
Even Goblins Fall In Love may be a love letter to Dragon Quest, but that won't stop me from throwing in a semi-obscure Final Fantasy reference.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
August 31, 2025 at 12:12 AM
skyboygames.com
Meet the King of Mimics in Even Goblins Fall In Love: the MimiKing!

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
An encounter with the MimiKing, a super-sized mimic-type boss creature in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an in-development 8-bit NES JRPG. The MimiKing (Mimic King) is a treasure chest that has sprouted muscular legs and arms while large tentacled eyes rise from inside the chest.
August 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
skyboygames.com
Added some teleportation tiles to add a little spice to dungeon navigation in Even Goblins Fall In Love, our love letter to the original Dragon Quest.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
August 16, 2025 at 8:32 PM
skyboygames.com
Goblins have enough dark-vision to see at least a little in certain dungeons.
Can't beat a good torch though.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
August 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM
skyboygames.com
Doing a bit of kit-bashing with monster pieces has resulted in a series of eyeball-themed enemies.
Sinister forces will be watching you in Even Goblins Fall In Love.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
8-bit battle in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an in-development NES JRPG. Player is facing a winged eye-ball called EYEFLY. 8-bit battle in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an in-development NES JRPG. Player is facing a bundle of tentacled eyes called CLUSTER. 8-bit battle in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an in-development NES JRPG. Player is facing an eye-ball with large muscled legs called STOMPEYE. 8-bit battle in Even Goblins Fall In Love, an in-development NES JRPG. Player is facing a winged, helmeted eye-ball called SENTRY.
August 9, 2025 at 5:59 PM
skyboygames.com
Added a squiggly creature field NPC to represent encounters with major enemies (bosses).

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
August 2, 2025 at 4:52 AM
skyboygames.com
Not to be undone by the magic key that can lock Mimics shut, the hammer item can be used in combat to instantly destroy rock enemies.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
July 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
skyboygames.com
Some caves in Even Goblins Fall In Love will be so dark, you'll need a torch to light your way.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
July 26, 2025 at 4:30 AM
skyboygames.com
Worked with an old co-worker to create a new enemy (and variants) based on a personal obsession of ours.

You'd have to be a real Robbie D lore expert to figure out the origins for this one.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
A creature that looks like a pair of lips with legs in NEXXT, an editor for NES graphical data. The creature is called Lippy and will be featured in the game, Even Goblins Fall In Love. A creature that looks like a pair of lips with an eyeball and legs in NEXXT, an editor for NES graphical data. The creature is called Lookie and will be featured in the game, Even Goblins Fall In Love. A creature that looks like a pair of lips with a purple tongue and legs in NEXXT, an editor for NES graphical data. The creature is called Lickie and will be featured in the game, Even Goblins Fall In Love. A creature that looks like a pair of lips with a wings and legs in NEXXT, an editor for NES graphical data. The creature is called Flappy and will be featured in the game, Even Goblins Fall In Love.
July 18, 2025 at 9:54 PM
skyboygames.com
Got some basic password-based save data working.
I'm kinda of tempted to sneak a little "Justin Bailey"-style Easter Egg in there now.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
July 16, 2025 at 3:13 PM
skyboygames.com
It's cool how embedding data in CHR for my NES JRPG has the side effect of creating a visualization where you can literally see the structural difference between different types of data and compression methods.

#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
CHR bank for Even Goblins Fall In Love, an NES JRPG. The CHR table, which is traditionally used for rendered graphics, has several tiles occupied by noise-like pixel data. These areas are actually encoded data used by the game. The three labeled areas are Nametables (using RLE encoding), Strings (using BytePair encoding), and Metasprites (uncompressed.)
July 11, 2025 at 5:25 PM